Edward Snowden: Right and wrong is a very different standard than legal and illegal

“I wonder when it is that he thinks America was great. Because if you remember what we did to traitors in 1776 and afterwards, we made them president. We are a country that was born from an act of treason against a government that had run out of control.” Edward Snowden in ABC News interview. Source: Donna Hawkins YouTube channel.

ABC News:
Donald Trump tweeted about you in 2014, writing “Snowden is a traitor. When our country was great do you know what we did to traitors? Meanwhile, his pick for CIA director, Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo, has called you a liar and a criminal, and in at least one interview, also called for your execution. What's your reaction?

Edward Snowden:

I wonder when it is that he thinks America was great. Because if you remember what we did to traitors in 1776 and afterwards, we made them president. We are a country that was born from an act of treason against a government that had run out of control. Now, this is not to say that breaking the rules is something that should happen all the time. But we should always make a distinction that right and wrong is a very different standard than legal and illegal. The law is no substitute for morality, here or then.

ABC News:

Are you saying what you did was right?

Edward Snowden:

I think yeah …

ABC News:

Or legal? Or both?

Edward Snowden:

I would not have done it if I didn't believe it was right.